Method and apparatus for enabling a mobile endpoint device to be a hub for a conference call

ABSTRACT

A method, computer-readable storage device and apparatus for enabling a mobile endpoint device to be a hub for a conference call are disclosed. For example, the method connects to the conference call, broadcasts a signal to at least one slave mobile endpoint devices to join the conference call over a personal area network, receives a pairing request from the at least one slave mobile endpoint device over the personal area network, accepts the pairing request and connects the at least one slave mobile endpoint device to the conference call via the master mobile endpoint device over the personal area network, wherein both the master mobile endpoint device and the at least one slave mobile endpoint device have two-way communications with the conference call and conference call controls.

This application is a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No.15/495,372, filed Apr. 24, 2017, now U.S. Pat. No. 10,009,473, which isa continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 14/085,701, filedNov. 20, 2013, now U.S. Pat. No. 9,635,698, all of which are hereinincorporated by reference in its entirety.

BACKGROUND

Currently, when a user calls into a conference call with multiplecolleagues or other users, a user may dial into the conference callusing a Polycom® device or other conferencing hub. Typically, thePolycom® device calls into a conferencing bridge or to another callervia a landline telephone call. However, some users in a large conferenceroom may be far away from the speaker and may not be in a position tohear the Polycom® output device or the other party on the conferencecall may not be able to hear other users relatively far away from thePolycom® input device. In addition, specialized conferencing equipmentsuch as Polycom® devices are often quite expensive.

Alternatively, multiple users may separately dial into a conferencebridge to conduct a conference call. However, issues with latency, lagand echo may cause issues with the quality of the conference call.Another alternative is to have multiple users gather around closely auser's device that is placed on speaker phone mode to conduct theconference call if no Polycom® device is available. Notably, all ofthese alternatives have drawbacks.

SUMMARY

In one embodiment, the present disclosure provides a method,computer-readable storage device, and an apparatus for enabling a mobileendpoint device to be a hub for a conference call. In one embodiment,the method connects to the conference call, broadcasts a signal to atleast one slave mobile endpoint devices to join the conference call overa personal area network, receives a pairing request from the at leastone slave mobile endpoint device over the personal area network, acceptsthe pairing request and connects the at least one slave mobile endpointdevice to the conference call via the master mobile endpoint device overthe personal area network, wherein both the master mobile endpointdevice and the at least one slave mobile endpoint device have two-waycommunications with the conference call and conference call controls.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The essence of the present disclosure can be readily understood byconsidering the following detailed description in conjunction with theaccompanying drawings, in which:

FIG. 1 illustrates one example of a communication network of the presentdisclosure;

FIG. 2 illustrates an example flowchart of a method for enabling amobile endpoint device to be a hub for a conference call from aperspective of a master mobile endpoint device;

FIG. 3 illustrates an example flowchart of a method for enabling amobile endpoint device to be a hub for a conference call from aperspective of a slave mobile endpoint device; and

FIG. 4 illustrates a high-level block diagram of a general-purposecomputer suitable for use in performing the functions described herein.

To facilitate understanding, identical reference numerals have beenused, where possible, to designate identical elements that are common tothe figures.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

The present disclosure broadly discloses a method, computer-readablestorage device and apparatus for enabling a mobile endpoint device to bea hub for a conference call. As discussed above, the available optionsfor conducting a conference call all have drawbacks due toinconvenience, latency, lag, echoing or costs. One embodiment of thepresent disclosure allows users to leverage the users' personal mobileendpoint devices (e.g., a cellular telephone or a smart phone) as a hubfor a conference call. As a result, each user may have some conferencecall controls on his or her personal mobile endpoint device that isconnected to a master mobile endpoint device via a personal area network(PAN) that uses a near field communications protocol (e.g., Bluetooth®,Zigbee® and the like).

FIG. 1 is a block diagram depicting one example of a communicationnetwork 100. For example, the communication network 100 may be any typeof communication network, such as for example, a traditional circuitswitched network (e.g., a public switched telephone network (PSTN)) or apacket network such as an Internet Protocol (IP) network (e.g., an IPMultimedia Subsystem (IMS) network), an asynchronous transfer mode (ATM)network, a wireless network, a cellular network (e.g., 2G, 3G, and thelike), a long term evolution (LTE) network, and the like related to thecurrent disclosure. It should be noted that an IP network is broadlydefined as a network that uses Internet Protocol to exchange datapackets.

For example, the communication network 100 may include a core network102, a personal area network (PAN) 104, an endpoint device 106 and oneor more mobile endpoint devices 108, 110, 112 and 114. In oneembodiment, the core network 102 may be an Internet Protocol (IP)network (e.g., an IP Multimedia Subsystem (IMS) network) that mayprovide wireless communication services to the mobile endpoint devices108, 110, 112 and 114.

In one embodiment, the wireless communication services may be cellularcommunication (e.g., 2G, 3G, 4G, LTE, and the like) services. In anotherembodiment, the communication services may be wireless communicationservices such as a wireless fidelity (Wi-Fi) service. In one embodiment,the communication network 100 may include one or more access networks(not shown) such as a cellular network, a Wi-Fi network, a cable networkand the like, situated between the core network 102 and the mobileendpoint device 108 and/or the endpoint device 106. In one embodiment,the communication network 100 in FIG. 1 is simplified and it should benoted the communication network 100 may also include additional networkelements (not shown), such as for example, border elements, gateways,firewalls, routers, switches, call control elements, various applicationservers, and the like.

In one embodiment, the endpoint device 106 may be any type of endpointdevice used by a user for conference call services. For example, theendpoint device 106 may be a conference bridge in communication with thecore network 102 or located in the core network 102. In anotherembodiment, the endpoint device 106 may be a telephone, a mobiletelephone, a smart phone, a desktop computer, a laptop computer, atablet computer, and the like.

In one embodiment, the mobile endpoint devices 108, 110, 112 and 114 maybe any type of mobile endpoint devices, such as for example, a cellulartelephone, a smart phone, a tablet computer with voice capability, andthe like. In one embodiment, the mobile endpoint devices 108, 110, 112and 114 may have a subscription to wireless communication services viathe communication service provider of the core network 102. For example,the wireless communication service may be a cellular communicationservice or subscription. In another embodiment, the wirelesscommunication service may be a service provider of Internet servicesthat provides Wi-Fi communication services.

In other words, the mobile endpoint devices 108, 110, 112 and 114 arenot general endpoint devices that require a landline or a wiredtelephone communication service that could be moved from location tolocation and re-connected (e.g., a Polycom® main speaker or hub, aterminal adapter, a landline telephone, and the like). In addition, themobile endpoint devices 108, 110, 112 and 114 should not be interpretedas a simple input/output device such as a headset or a portable speakerthat is technically “mobile”. Rather, the mobile endpoint devices 108,110, 112 and 114 are capable of obtaining cellular subscription servicesor Wi-Fi services and are capable of running application programs.

In one embodiment, the mobile endpoint device 108 may be referred toalso as a master mobile endpoint device 108. In one embodiment, themaster mobile endpoint device 108 may establish a connection to aconference call with the endpoint device 106 via the core network 102.In one embodiment, the endpoint device 106 may be a conference bridgethat the master mobile endpoint device 108 dials into and connects withanother caller (not shown). In one embodiment, the endpoint device 106may be another telephone or computer that the master mobile endpointdevice 108 is calling directly for conferencing services.

In one embodiment, the mobile endpoint devices 110, 112 and 114 may alsobe referred to as slave mobile endpoint devices 110, 112 and 114.Although only three slave mobile endpoint devices are illustrated inFIG. 1, it should be noted that any number of slave mobile endpointdevices may be deployed. In one embodiment, the slave mobile endpointdevices 110, 112 and 114 may pair with the master mobile endpoint device108 over the PAN 104 to connect to the conference call. In other words,the mobile endpoint devices 110, 112 and 114 are connected to theconference call through the master mobile endpoint device 108. Saidanother way, the slave mobile endpoint devices 110, 112 and 114 are notused to directly join or “dial” into a conference bridge that is setupfor a conference call.

In one embodiment, the PAN 104 may use a short-range open or ad hoccommunications protocol. For example, the PAN 104 may use a Bluetooth®communications protocol, a ZigBee® communications protocol, a wirelessuniversal serial bus (wUSB) communications protocol, and the like.

The master mobile endpoint device 108 and the slave mobile endpointdevices 110, 112 and 114 may be associated with different users. As aresult, each one of the different users may use his or own mobileendpoint device 110, 112 or 114 as a personal hub to the conferencecall. In other words, each one of the different users may have his orher own “speaker” and “microphone” to the conference call andindependent conference call controls (e.g., controls to the speaker andmicrophone) without the need to hover over the master mobile endpointdevice 108 on speakerphone. However, it should be noted that the masterand slave devices are not limited just to the speakerphone mode duringthe conference call. For example, all modes provided by the respectivehandset (the mobile phone), wired or wireless headset (in communicationwith the mobile phone), and speakerphone (internal of external to themobile phone) can be equally utilized.

In one embodiment, the mobile endpoint devices 108, 110, 112 and 114 maybe modified to perform the functions described herein. For example, theoperating systems of the mobile endpoint devices 108, 110, 112 and 114may be modified to allow the mobile endpoint devices 108, 110, 112 and114 operate in either a master or slave mode for the communicationsprotocol used to connect to one another over the PAN 104 and includevarious call controls and conference call controls described herein.

In one embodiment, the master mobile endpoint device 108 and the slavemobile endpoint devices 110, 112 and 114 may have installed anapplication programming interface (API) that runs a conference callapplication for performing the functions described herein. In oneembodiment, the conference call API may allow a cellular telephone orsmart phone to be a slave or a master device using a Bluetooth®connection. For example, currently, cellular telephones or smart phonesonly act as a master device that allows a slave input/output device suchas a headset or an external speaker to connect to the smart phone.However, the smart phone typically cannot connect to another smart phoneas a slave device via a Bluetooth® connection. In other words, theconference call API may modify the Bluetooth® communications protocol onthe mobile endpoint devices 108, 110, 112 and 114 to allow the mobileendpoint devices 108, 110, 112 and 114 to operate as either a masterdevice or a slave device for a conference call.

In one embodiment, the conference call API may provide conference callcontrols, which may be differentiated from call controls. The callcontrol of the master mobile endpoint device 108 may provide variouscontrols, e.g., calling a conference bridge, hanging up, or hookflashing that can be done at anytime. The conference call controls mayinclude controls associated with the conference call that are discussedin further detail below. For example, the conference call controls mayinclude muting, volume adjustments, selectively disconnecting one ormore slave mobile endpoint devices, and the like. In one embodiment,only the master mobile endpoint device 108 may have both call controlsand conference call controls and the slave mobile endpoint devices 110,112 and 114 may only have some limited conference call controls.

As a result, when the slave mobile endpoint devices 110, 112 and 114 areconnected to the conference call via the connection to the master mobileendpoint device 108 via the PAN 104, each one of the slave mobileendpoint devices 110, 112 and 114 may have slave conference callcontrols. For example, each one of the slave mobile endpoint devices110, 112 and 114 may independently control its own volume level (e.g.,louder or quieter), toggle a mute button, and the like.

In one embodiment, the master mobile endpoint device 108 may have masterconference call controls in addition to the call controls discussedabove. For example, the master mobile endpoint device 108 may display orlist each one of the slave mobile endpoint devices 110, 112 and 114 thatare paired with the master mobile endpoint device 108 via a display(e.g., a graphical user interface (GUI)). In one embodiment, the displaymay allow a user of the master mobile endpoint device 108 to selectivelydisconnect one or more of the slave mobile endpoint devices 110, 112 and114, selectively mute one or more of the slave mobile endpoint devices110, 112 and 114, and the like. The master mobile conference callcontrols may also include adjusting a master volume (e.g., louder orquieter), having a mute all function (e.g., muting the master device andall slave devices), an end conference call function, and the like. Forexample, if the master mobile endpoint device 108 terminates theconference call, then all of the slave mobile endpoint devices 110, 112and 114 may automatically be disconnected or unpaired from the mastermobile endpoint device 108.

It should be noted that unlike traditional pairing of a cellulartelephone or smart phone to an external input/output Bluetooth® device,the master mobile endpoint device 108 may still be used for two-waycommunications on the conference call. For example, when a Bluetooth®headset is paired to a smart phone, all of the voice communications aresent over the headset. Typically, the smart phone is muted andcommunications cannot be sent or received over the smart phone while theheadset is paired with the smart phone. In contrast, in the presentdisclosure, the conference call API may modify the communicationsprotocol for the PAN 104 (e.g., Bluetooth®) to allow the master device(e.g., the master mobile endpoint device 108) to continue to send andreceive communications in addition to acting as a conduit forconnections to the conference call for the paired slave mobile endpointdevices 110, 112 and 114.

In one embodiment, the master mobile endpoint device 108 may send anauthentication code or a pre-defined code to the slave mobile endpointdevices 110, 112 and 114. For example, most communications protocols forthe PAN 104 use open or ad hoc protocols. As a result, any mobileendpoint device could snoop the signal broadcasted to the slave mobileendpoint devices 110, 112 and 114 to pair to the master mobile endpointdevice 108. However, the authentication code may be used to require theslave mobile endpoint devices 110, 112 and 114 to provide theauthentication code (e.g., an alphanumeric code of any length, such asfor example, four digits) to the master mobile endpoint device 108 forauthenticating a pairing request.

In one embodiment, whenever the master mobile endpoint device 108receives a pairing request, the master mobile endpoint device 108 mayprovide an audible tone to the user. The audible tone may provide anotification to the user to alert them that other mobile endpointdevices are attempting to pair with his or her master mobile endpointdevice 108. In one embodiment, the slave mobile endpoint devices 110,112 and 114 may also provide an audible tone to the respective userswhen the pairing request is sent to the master mobile endpoint device108.

A real life example is presented to illustrate the benefits of thepresent disclosure. For example, a user may be traveling on businesswith several business colleagues. The user and the colleagues may have aconference call that they need to connect to while they are travelling.

Previously, each user would be required to dial in separately on his orher respective mobile endpoint device. This could create echoes or lagto the other users on the conference call. In addition, the conferencecall bridge may have a limit to the number of users that may be able tojoin. If the conference bridge can only accommodate one more caller,then only one of the users who are travelling would be able to call inand the remaining business colleagues would have to huddle around asingle mobile endpoint device placed on speakerphone mode to participatein the conference call.

However, using the present disclosure, one of the users may call intothe conference call. Subsequently, the remaining business colleaguescould pair to the user's master mobile endpoint device using aconference call API on the mobile endpoint devices over a PAN (e.g., aBluetooth® connection). As a result, each user would have his or her ownhub via his or her own respective mobile endpoint device to participatein the conference call. In one embodiment, a hub may be defined ashaving full two-way communications for the conference call and one ormore independent conference call controls. In one embodiment, theconference call controls are independent in that a user may toggle oneof his or her conference call controls without affecting the samecontrol of another user. For example, the conference call controls mayinclude volume adjustment or a mute button.

In another embodiment, no conference call service may be available.However, one of the users (e.g., referred to as the calling party) maydirectly call a called party. The remaining users may pair to thecalling party's master mobile endpoint device using a conference callAPI on the mobile endpoint devices over the PAN (e.g., a Bluetooth®connection). As a result, each user would have his or her own hub viahis or her own respective mobile endpoint device to participate on thecall with the called party. In essence, an ad hoc conference call may becreated even when no conference call bridge was previously reserved orestablished.

FIG. 2 illustrates a flowchart of a method 200 for enabling a mobileendpoint device to be a hub for a conference call. In one embodiment,the method 200 may be performed by the master mobile endpoint device 108or a general purpose computer as illustrated in FIG. 4 and discussedbelow.

The method 200 begins at step 202. At step 204, the method 200 connectsto a conference call. For example, the master mobile endpoint device mayfirst dial into a conference bridge or with another caller.

At step 206, the method 200 may broadcast a signal to one or more slavemobile endpoint devices to join the conference call over a PAN. Forexample, the signal may be an indication that the conference call isconnected and that the slave mobile endpoint devices should begininitiating requests to pair with the master mobile endpoint device. Thesignal may also include a pop up message is sent to the slave mobileendpoint device to notify the user to begin initiation of the pairingrequest.

In one embodiment, the PAN may use a Bluetooth® communications protocol,a ZigBee® communications protocol, a wUSB communications protocol, andthe like. In one embodiment, the master mobile endpoint device and theslave mobile endpoint device may have installed and be running aconference call API to allow the mobile endpoint device to be a masteror a slave device using one of the communications protocols describedabove for the PAN.

At step 208, the method 200 may receive a pairing request. For example,one or more of slave mobile endpoint devices may receive the broadcastedsignal to join the conference call and are now initiating the pairing bysending a pairing request to the master mobile endpoint device.

At optional step 210, the method 200 may provide an audible tone whenthe pairing request is received. For example, the audible tone mayprovide a notification to the user of the master mobile endpoint deviceeach time that a slave mobile endpoint device is attempting to pair withthe master mobile endpoint device. This may allow the user of the mastermobile endpoint device to manage the connections to the master mobileendpoint device and monitor which slave mobile endpoint devices areattempting to pair with the master mobile endpoint device.

At optional step 212, the method 200 may authenticate the pairingrequest. For example, a pre-defined code or an authentication code(e.g., a four digit alphanumeric code) may be sent to the desired one ormore slave mobile endpoint devices. In one embodiment, the pre-definedcode or the authentication code may be sent before the master mobileendpoint device connects to the conference call.

In one embodiment, after the pairing request is received, the mastermobile endpoint device may send an authentication request to the slavemobile endpoint device. The master mobile endpoint device may then waitfor a response. When the response is received, the master mobileendpoint device may verify that the received response matches thepre-defined code or the authentication code.

At step 214, the method 200 may determine if the pairing request isaccepted. If the pairing request is not accepted (e.g., the response didnot match the pre-defined code or authentication code at step 212 or auser of the master mobile endpoint device refuses the pairing requestmanually) the method 200 may proceed to step 216.

At step 216, the method 200 does not connect the slave mobile endpointdevice to the master mobile endpoint device. The method 200 thenproceeds to step 222 where the method 200 ends.

Referring back to step 214, if the method 200 accepts the pairingrequest, the method 200 may then proceed to step 218. At step 218, themethod 200 may connect the slave mobile endpoint device to theconference call as a hub via the master mobile endpoint device over thePAN. For example, the slave mobile endpoint device may be paired to themaster mobile endpoint device via Bluetooth® connection. As a result,the slave mobile endpoint device may have slave conference call controlsand the master mobile endpoint device may have master conference callcontrols. In addition, the master mobile endpoint device and the slavemobile endpoint device may each have independent two-way communicationswith other callers on the conference call (e.g., the called party orother callers on a conference bridge).

At step 220, the method 200 determines if a conference call isterminated by the master mobile endpoint device. If the conference callis not terminated, the method 200 returns to step 218 where the slavemobile endpoint device remains connected to the conference call via themaster mobile endpoint device. However, if the master mobile endpointdevice terminates the conference call at step 220, the method 200proceeds to step 222. At step 222, the method 200 ends.

FIG. 3 illustrates a flowchart of a method 300 for enabling a mobileendpoint device to be a hub for a conference call. In one embodiment,the method 300 may be performed by any one of the slave mobile endpointdevices 110, 112 or 114 or a general purpose computer as illustrated inFIG. 4 and discussed below.

The method 300 begins at step 302. At step 304, the method 300 receivesa signal over a personal area network (PAN) to pair with a master mobileendpoint device that is already connected to a conference call. Forexample, the signal may be an indication that the conference call isconnected and that the slave mobile endpoint devices should begininitiating requests to pair with the master mobile endpoint device. Thesignal may also include a pop up message is sent to the slave mobileendpoint device to notify the user to begin initiation of the pairingrequest.

In one embodiment, the slave mobile endpoint device and the mastermobile endpoint device may run a conference call API that allows themobile endpoint devices to operate as a slave device or a master devicein a communications protocol (e.g., Bluetooth®) used over the PAN. Inone embodiment, the master mobile endpoint device may broadcast a signalusing the communications protocol of the PAN.

At step 306, the method 300 send a pairing request. For example, theslave mobile endpoint device may initiate the pairing by sending apairing request to the master mobile endpoint device.

At optional step 308, the method 300 may provide an audible tone whenthe pairing request is sent. In one embodiment, the audible tone mayprovide a notification to a user of the slave mobile endpoint deviceconfirming that the pairing request was sent successfully and that themaster mobile endpoint device has received the pairing request.

At optional step 310, the method 300 may authenticate the pairingrequest. For example, a pre-defined code or an authentication code(e.g., a four digit alphanumeric code) may be sent by one or more slavemobile endpoint devices to the master mobile endpoint device. In oneembodiment, the pre-defined code or the authentication code may havebeen received by each of the slave mobile endpoint devices before themaster mobile endpoint device connects to the conference call.

In one embodiment, after the pairing request is sent, the master mobileendpoint device may send an authentication request to the slave mobileendpoint device. The slave mobile endpoint device may then send aresponse to the master mobile endpoint device. The master mobileendpoint device may verify that the received response matches thepre-defined code or the authentication code.

At step 312, the method 300 determines if the pairing request isaccepted. If the pairing request is not accepted (e.g., the response didnot match the pre-defined code or authentication code at step 310 or auser of the master mobile endpoint device refuses the pairing requestmanually) the method 300 may proceed to step 314.

At step 314, the method 300 notifies the slave mobile endpoint devicethat the pairing request was denied. The method 300 then proceeds tostep 322 where the method 300 ends.

Referring back to step 312, if the method 300 accepts the pairingrequest, the method 300 may then proceed to step 316. At step 316, themethod 300 may connect the slave mobile endpoint device to the mastermobile endpoint device over the PAN as a hub of the conference call. Forexample, the slave mobile endpoint device may be paired to the mastermobile endpoint device via Bluetooth® connection. As a result, the slavemobile endpoint device may have slave conference call controls and themaster mobile endpoint device may have master conference call controls.In addition, the master mobile endpoint device and the slave mobileendpoint device may each have independent two-way communications withother callers on the conference call (e.g., the called party or othercallers on a conference bridge).

At step 318, the method 300 determines if the connection over the PAN isterminated by the master mobile endpoint device. For example, the mastermobile endpoint device may have master conference call controls thatinclude selectively disconnecting any one of a plurality of slave mobileendpoint devices paired to the master mobile endpoint device. If theconnection over the PAN is terminated, the method 300 may proceed tostep 322 where the method 300 ends.

However, if the connection over the PAN is not terminated, the method300 may proceed to step 320. At step 320, the method 300 may determineif the connection to the conference call is terminated by the mastermobile endpoint device. If the conference call is not terminated, themethod 300 returns to step 316 where the slave mobile endpoint deviceremains connected to the conference call via the master mobile endpointdevice. However, if the master mobile endpoint device terminates theconference call at step 320, the method 300 proceeds to step 322. Atstep 322, the method 300 ends.

It should be noted that although not explicitly specified, one or moresteps or operations of the methods 200 and 300 described above mayinclude a storing, displaying and/or outputting step as required for aparticular application. In other words, any data, records, fields,and/or intermediate results discussed in the methods can be stored,displayed, and/or outputted to another device as required for aparticular application. Furthermore, steps, operations or blocks inFIGS. 2 and 3 that recite a determining operation, or involve adecision, do not necessarily require that both branches of thedetermining operation be practiced. In other words, one of the branchesof the determining operation can be deemed as an optional step.

FIG. 4 depicts a high-level block diagram of a general-purpose computersuitable for use in performing the functions described herein. Asdepicted in FIG. 4, the system 400 comprises one or more hardwareprocessor elements 402 (e.g., a central processing unit (CPU), amicroprocessor, or a multi-core processor), a memory 404, e.g., randomaccess memory (RAM) and/or read only memory (ROM), a module 405 forenabling a mobile endpoint device to be a hub for a conference call, andvarious input/output devices 406 (e.g., storage devices, including butnot limited to, a tape drive, a floppy drive, a hard disk drive or acompact disk drive, a receiver, a transmitter, a speaker, a display, aspeech synthesizer, an output port, an input port and a user inputdevice (such as a keyboard, a keypad, a mouse, a microphone and thelike)). Although only one processor element is shown, it should be notedthat the general-purpose computer may employ a plurality of processorelements. Furthermore, although only one general-purpose computer isshown in the figure, if the method(s) as discussed above is implementedin a distributed or parallel manner for a particular illustrativeexample, i.e., the steps of the above method(s) or the entire method(s)are implemented across multiple or parallel general-purpose computers,then the general-purpose computer of this figure is intended torepresent each of those multiple general-purpose computers. Furthermore,one or more hardware processors can be utilized in supporting avirtualized or shared computing environment. The virtualized computingenvironment may support one or more virtual machines representingcomputers, servers, or other computing devices. In such virtualizedvirtual machines, hardware components such as hardware processors andcomputer-readable storage devices may be virtualized or logicallyrepresented.

It should be noted that the present disclosure can be implemented insoftware and/or in a combination of software and hardware, e.g., usingapplication specific integrated circuits (ASIC), a programmable logicarray (PLA), including a field-programmable gate array (FPGA), or astate machine deployed on a hardware device, a general purpose computeror any other hardware equivalents, e.g., computer readable instructionspertaining to the method(s) discussed above can be used to configure ahardware processor to perform the steps, functions and/or operations ofthe above disclosed methods. In one embodiment, instructions and datafor the present module or process 405 for enabling a mobile endpointdevice to be a hub for a conference call (e.g., a software programcomprising computer-executable instructions) can be loaded into memory404 and executed by hardware processor element 402 to implement thesteps, functions or operations as discussed above in connection with theexemplary methods 200 and 300. Furthermore, when a hardware processorexecutes instructions to perform “operations”, this could include thehardware processor performing the operations directly and/orfacilitating, directing, or cooperating with another hardware device orcomponent (e.g., a co-processor and the like) to perform the operations.

The processor executing the computer readable or software instructionsrelating to the above described method(s) can be perceived as aprogrammed processor or a specialized processor. As such, the presentmodule 405 for enabling a mobile endpoint device to be a hub for aconference call (including associated data structures) of the presentdisclosure can be stored on a tangible or physical (broadlynon-transitory) computer-readable storage device or medium, e.g.,volatile memory, non-volatile memory, ROM memory, RAM memory, magneticor optical drive, device or diskette and the like. More specifically,the computer-readable storage device may comprise any physical devicesthat provide the ability to store information such as data and/orinstructions to be accessed by a processor or a computing device such asa computer or an application server.

While various embodiments have been described above, it should beunderstood that they have been presented by way of example only, and notlimitation. Thus, the breadth and scope of a preferred embodiment shouldnot be limited by any of the above-described exemplary embodiments, butshould be defined only in accordance with the following claims and theirequivalents.

What is claimed is:
 1. A method for handling a conference call, themethod comprising: connecting, by a processor of a master mobileendpoint device, to the conference call; broadcasting, by the processor,a signal to at least one slave mobile endpoint device to join theconference call over a personal area network; receiving, by theprocessor, a pairing request from the at least one slave mobile endpointdevice over the personal area network; accepting, by the processor, thepairing request; and connecting, by the processor, the at least oneslave mobile endpoint device to the conference call via the mastermobile endpoint device over the personal area network, wherein both themaster mobile endpoint device and the at least one slave mobile endpointdevice have two-way communications with the conference call andconference call controls, wherein a first master mobile endpoint deviceconference call control of the conference call controls comprises afirst user control on the master mobile endpoint device for adjusting avolume of a speaker of the at least one slave mobile endpoint device forthe conference call, wherein the two-way communications includecommunications from a microphone of the master mobile endpoint deviceand communications to a speaker of the master mobile endpoint device. 2.The method of claim 1, wherein the accepting the pairing requestcomprises: authenticating, by the processor, the pairing request fromthe at least one slave mobile endpoint device.
 3. The method of claim 2,wherein the authenticating comprises receiving a pre-defined codeprovided by the master mobile endpoint device.
 4. The method of claim 1,further comprising: providing, by the processor, an audible tone whenthe pairing request is received from the at least one slave mobileendpoint device.
 5. The method of claim 1, wherein the at least oneslave mobile endpoint device comprises a plurality of slave mobileendpoint devices.
 6. The method of claim 1, wherein the personal areanetwork uses a near field communications protocol.
 7. The method ofclaim 1, further comprising: displaying, by the processor, a list of theat least one slave mobile endpoint device that is connected to themaster mobile endpoint device.
 8. The method of claim 1, wherein a slavemobile endpoint device conference call control comprises a control formuting the at least one slave mobile endpoint device.
 9. The method ofclaim 1, wherein the master mobile endpoint device and the at least oneslave mobile endpoint device both have a wireless communication servicesubscription.
 10. The method of claim 1, further comprising: executing,by the processor, a conference call application programming interface onthe master mobile endpoint device to perform the connecting of the atleast one slave mobile endpoint device to the conference call via themaster mobile endpoint device over the personal area network.
 11. Acomputer-readable storage device storing a plurality of instructionswhich, when executed by a processor of a master mobile endpoint device,cause the processor to perform operations for handling a conferencecall, the operations comprising: connecting to the conference call;broadcasting a signal to at least one slave mobile endpoint device tojoin the conference call over a personal area network; receiving apairing request from the at least one slave mobile endpoint device overthe personal area network; accepting the pairing request; and connectingthe at least one slave mobile endpoint device to the conference call viathe master mobile endpoint device over the personal area network,wherein both the master mobile endpoint device and the at least oneslave mobile endpoint device have two-way communications with theconference call and conference call controls, wherein a first mastermobile endpoint device conference call control of the conference callcontrols comprises a first user control on the master mobile endpointdevice for adjusting a volume of a speaker of the at least one slavemobile endpoint device for the conference call, wherein the two-waycommunications include communications from a microphone of the mastermobile endpoint device and communications to a speaker of the mastermobile endpoint device.
 12. The computer-readable storage device ofclaim 11, wherein the accepting the pairing request comprises:authenticating the pairing request from the at least one slave mobileendpoint device.
 13. The computer-readable storage device of claim 12,wherein the authenticating comprises receiving a pre-defined codeprovided by the master mobile endpoint device.
 14. The computer-readablestorage device of claim 11, the operations further comprising: providingan audible tone when the pairing request is received from the at leastone slave mobile endpoint device.
 15. The computer-readable storagedevice of claim 11, wherein the personal area network uses a near fieldcommunications protocol.
 16. The computer-readable storage device ofclaim 11, the operations further comprising: displaying a list of the atleast one slave mobile endpoint device that is connected to the mastermobile endpoint device.
 17. The computer-readable storage device ofclaim 11, wherein a slave mobile endpoint device conference call controlcomprises a control for muting the at least one slave mobile endpointdevice.
 18. The computer-readable storage device of claim 11, whereinthe master mobile endpoint device and the at least one slave mobileendpoint device both have a wireless communication service subscription.19. The computer-readable storage device of claim 11, the operationsfurther comprising: executing a conference call application programminginterface on the master mobile endpoint device to perform the connectingof the at least one slave mobile endpoint device to the conference callvia the master mobile endpoint device over the personal area network.20. A method for handling a conference call, the method comprising:receiving, by a processor of a slave mobile endpoint device, a signal topair with a master mobile endpoint device to join the conference callover a personal area network, wherein the master mobile endpoint devicehas established a connection to the conference call; sending, by theprocessor, a pairing request over the personal area network; receiving,by the processor, an indication that the pairing request is accepted;and connecting, by the processor, to the master mobile endpoint deviceover the personal area network, wherein the master mobile endpointdevice and the slave mobile endpoint device both have two-waycommunications with the conference call and conference call controls,wherein a first master mobile endpoint device conference call control ofthe conference call controls comprises a first user control on themaster mobile endpoint device for adjusting a volume of a speaker of theslave mobile endpoint device for the conference call, wherein thetwo-way communications include communications from a microphone of themaster mobile endpoint device and communications to a speaker of themaster mobile endpoint device.